Emeralds’ man Steve Hauschildt is the last of the Cleveland three-piece to release a solo record. Tragedy & Geometry utilizes arpeggio patterns and retro synth-work that span across the musician’s self-constructed, solitary landscape.

Reading the info on the record it seems Hauschildt has thought long and hard on what he is writing about. The title alone is a reference to Greek Mythology – Melpomene (Muse of Tragedy) and Polyhymnia (Muse of Geometry) – deep stuff.

Inspiration aside, the music here is an affecting set of electronic instrumentals often sounding like an early 80s soundtrack – but the moments here unwind at a slower pace. It, unsurprisingly, shares the same universe as Emeralds, but remains in a calmer slipstream.

Hauschildt has a clear knack for creating cyclical riffs (the aforementioned arpeggios) that become hypnotic – underneath he lays waves of sound – and somewhere in-between the listener is caught in an unavoidable form of meditation.

Some moments throw up variation – Batteries May Drain includes a beat and bending synth-line to create a more industrial and retro form of M83’s momentum-building antics. Stare into Space, meanwhile, makes use of filtered sounds that cascade upon the synthetic strings and delaying bleeps. The wavering atmospherics in tracks like Cupid’s Dart or the reflective ambience within Arche serve to fragment the album, helping to individualise the longer pieces.

The purposeful usage of analog technology means the record has a strong personality. The music is ambient in its delivery and the album as a whole is a fine offshoot from the Emerald family.

-William Bell-